Redes parasitárias de hospedeiros anfíbios e répteis em uma região de Cerrado em Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

Abstract

Parasitism represents one of the most common life strategies on the planet, however many associations between different types of hosts and parasites are still poorly studied. Which represents a great lack of knowledge regarding the existing parasitic diversity. This can be seen mainly when it comes to animal hosts, such as amphibians and reptiles. Although many species of these groups have their parasitic fauna described, there are still several gaps regarding their parasitic communities. Much information about the aspects that structure the interactions end up not being addressed in many studies, especially when it comes to networks of parasitic associations. In this sense, in this thesis we approach the composition of parasitic communities in species of amphibians, lizards and snakes. We investigate the existence of general patterns in the organization of parasitic networks for each host group and its associated parasites. Finally, with the objective of a greater understanding of the roles played by host and parasite species in networks, we sought to analyze the influence of parasitic prevalence on the location of species within the networks, also checking the traits of species that can provide greater vulnerabilities to infections or dependencies of parasites on their hosts.